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“
My people,
the time has come. Once more it is Samhain night. Once more a year
finishes its turn. Once more we gather to shelter by the light
together, to share our wisdom, our joys, our sorrows. To await the
coming of life, wait for the wheel to turn again, and the new year
to start. On this night we stand on the apex of what was, and what
shall be. Now the veil between all worlds is thin, now is the time
to remember, our past
…”
He
looked into the distance, lines of sorrow marring his beauty, and
turned that face to Llew.
“
our present
…”
The
sorrow was chased away by pride as he smiled upon his son, then
over his people
“…
and our
future.
”
He looked down upon
his wife and her swollen belly, determined joy lighting up his face
once more.

“
So my
people, we drink deep in honour of our ancestors, and we
remember!
”

He took up a
goblet that a kneeling servant offered, raising it high. Llew
looked to his side and found a servant and goblet too, they must
have come when the priestess had. He
hadn
’
t noticed. He stood and
raised his high with his people by his side. They drank it down in
one draught and poured the remaining gulp onto the earth. A
thunderous cry thrummed through the air.
“
We remember, we remember, we
remember!
”

“
My people,
let the merrymaking unravel, let the wine flow freely, let the food
fill your hunger, and may the dancing steal your
feet!
”

Cheers
erupted throughout the crowds, cheers and laughter. The king
reached down taking his masque from the same kneeling servant.
Another came up, the rose emblem emblazoned on her breast, with two
guards at her back. Jessamine stood and removed his crown, and he
her
’
s. They placed them upon
the waiting pillow in the House Mistresses
’
hands, who then swiftly left, the guards close
at her heels. His father and Jessamine started to laughingly help
one another fasten their masques of oak and woven grass. Musicians
had already struck up, it seemed that his father was trying to
convince her to dance.

A gentle cough at his side drew his
attention, a young maid was waiting there, nervously fingering the
rose emblem at her chest. He welcomed the relief as he removed his
circlet, thinking as he did so that this must be the daughter of
that other servant. Or at least looked a lot like her, but
prettier. He placed the circlet on the pillow and she curtsied, her
lace framing budding breasts. Definitely prettier. He felt his face
go red, all unsure of where to look.

She left,
followed by guards, saving him from his uncomfortable feelings. He
put his masque in place, fans of holly leaves, softened by ferns.
As he was tying it he looked through his now narrowed vision and
saw Mera. She was sitting on the edge of her chair, one leg folded
beneath her without a thought of etiquette, and gazing up at the
moon with a strange expression on her face, from what he could see
of it, and as ever chewing her lip. Some trick of the light seemed
to make her eyes glow for a moment. Llew shook his head, who knew
what the silly girl was thinking. Then he noticed that the
priestess hadn
’
t moved, and
was watching Mera too.

“
Prince Llew,
would you care to join me in finding a glass of
wine?
”

Distracted
Llew glanced away to find Gosmore, a lordling of a lesser branch of
Arabis House, standing before him. He knew Gos was nearly a year
older than him, but suddenly it was obvious. He must have grown a
couple of inches since he last saw him, and learnt a few more
manners as well. He felt a flash of resentment, but it faded when
he noticed that Gos was going a odd shade of puce. He
grinned.
“
What have you been
doing Gos, eating your dad
’
s
fertiliser?
”

“
Obviously. I
don
’
t know what happened,
just woke up like it.
”

They both grinned at one another, the lost
months forgotten, companionship rekindled in the face of their
changing selves. They dashed into the night in search of tales of
glory and adventure.

Llew and Gos had been heading to the throne
room, to join the feast and dance, but they had got further
distracted along the way.

Already they
had run riot through the crowds outside, watching the
entertainment; fire breathers, jugglers, those who imitated still
life, unfreezing at odd moments to startle those nearby. They had
unmercifully tried to get one to move for some while, before giving
up in pursuit of more lively activities. They had also managed to
sneak more wine than their parents would have allowed, had they
known. Llew felt flushed and giddy, unable to fight his grin or his
happiness. He and Gos had managed to collect quite a few other boys
during their wanderings. Some were already pages, and had been
telling them all sorts of tales about what was to come. Llew
couldn
’
t wait.

What had distracted them was a dance troupe,
set to either side of the grand entryway to the throne room, whose
vast doors were thrown wide open, revealing glimpses of the
sumptuous ball within. But none of the boys really paid attention
to that. Their attention was securely fastened on the dancers.
Wearing nothing but loin clothes and glittering body oil.

The dance troupe was not made up of Danuans,
though no one was sure where they originated from. Maybe Merida,
they were a mixed enough bunch. Their skin ran from milk pale to a
rich brown, hair from golden to black. They all had a certain
similarity though, all muscled, lithe, all with hair to their
waists, including the men. Most were of a height, though two women,
light and dark, were tiny and delicate. They had been limbering up
when the boys ambled up, getting into their starting positions.
Soon a crowd had gathered.

A deep
thrumming started up. It surprised Llew, whose eyes tore from
supple flesh to find their musicians sitting along the wall. He
hadn
’
t even noticed them.
The dancers began their dance, slowly circling one another,
extending legs and arms in unison. They were graceful, true, but
this was nothing new. Llew didn
’
t know where to put his eyes, everywhere there were mostly
naked men and women. He had never seen a
woman
’
s form with so little
clothes, and was suddenly grateful for the flush the wine had given
him, that so readily hid his embarrassment and confusion. Some of
the older boys didn
’
t look
confused at all. They openly stared, elbowing one another and
grinning.
“
That
’
s the firmest
pair of peaches I
’
ve ever
seen
…”
He overheard one
whisper to another. Peaches?

The tempo
rose to become something faster, deeper. The dancers spun away from
one another, holding their pose, leaving the men lonely. Who then
began to writhe to this new tempo, flinging their bodies into the
air only to twist about, landing spry on their feet. With a start
Llew realized they were imitating a fight, graceful kicks arching
over one another
’
s heads,
coming close together to grapple, entwining with one another.
Seeming to tie their bodies into knots, only to come loose. They
peeled off to tie themselves to a woman waiting, mirroring. The
women pulled themselves free, and the men rejoined their fight. The
women began to twist their bodies, raising a leg high above
themselves, to settle gracefully over their shoulder, arms spread,
weaving, they began to rotate. They men sparred off again, to touch
another pair of waiting women, leaving the petite ones still. These
pounced into the air, landing on their hands, balancing on the tips
of their fingers of one hand, the other hovering above the floor.
They used their legs to dance, bringing them down level with their
hips, spreading wide, to curve gracefully up again. Llew had never
seen anything like it, he didn
’
t even know it was possible to do such things with your
body. Surely it wasn
’
t
supposed to bend like that?

At once the
two remaining women leapt upon the shoulders of the men, rolling
their bodies out until they were doing handstands. The men grasped
the women
’
s wrists thrusting
them into the air, then throwing them back. Each was caught by a
pair of women, who caught their ankles, the men reaching for them
again. As the drums grew insistent the petite women seemed to
cartwheel, flip and pounce across the other pairs of dancers, never
once touching ground. Caught in a clash of cymbals, they were
grasped wrist and ankle, thrown high into the air. Falling, they
were snatched again, again. With each throw the petite women spun,
twirled in the air, as each apex got higher and higher, they began
to cross one another, spinning many times, throwing out their limbs
to form stars with one another. On one such fall it seemed that
they were dropped, disappearing from view. The crowd gasped, crying
out into the silence that lurched where music had
goaded.

The men did standing somersaults, the women
folding out from one another, so it seemed they floated, only
anchored to the ground by two feet. The men knelt by those feet,
gripping and lifting them, extending one leg in smooth line behind
them as the did so.

There was a
pause. A crowd had gathered from the ball, the nobles had dropped
their polite façade and ululated their approval. He could see his
father holding Jessamine close, laughter lighting up their faces.
His father beckoned the dancers to him, his words lost in the
babble of voices. But he seemed to be praising them, he removed his
own brooch, dark gold and garnets, presenting it to one of them.
They all sunk into graceful bows, lowering themselves almost to the
floor. Llew thought they were certainly worthy of such an honour.
He hoped they would winter here.

At the edge of the dance floor he could see
Meredith clapping and grinning, the scarecrow with a hand on her
shoulder as muttered something to her. She turned with a surprised
look on her face and they engaged in a rapid conversation as the
cheers died off. They were both gesturing at the dancers, and she
looked at them with a considering look. Maybe the scarecrow would
be useful for something.

A cool hand settled on his shoulder. He
turned to find the Ambassador at his side. Ambassador Salvias of
the Empire. He had seen him at the formal introduction in the
throne room earlier, before the festival truly began. He cut a
powerful figure, and seemed much more interesting than the previous
ambassador. That one had been an old prig, but when the old Emperor
died last year, the new Emperor had appointed Salvias.

His medium
height, so typical of noble Imperialists, did not diminish the
power he exuded. He was dressed in the latest fashions, a deep blue
silk so fine it was almost transparent, cut close to his body,
fitting perfectly. Over than an even deeper blue jacket, short,
sleeveless, the shoulders rising to form squared horns. The
trousers revealed a cloth-of-silver lining where they were creased
above low heeled shoes, not boots, of some animal skin. Black and
white striped leather, fur peeking out from the seems. He wore
heavy platinum cuffs, chased with the angular patterns typical of
the Empire, and a long platinum chain, at the end of which swung a
large deep red jewel. So dark, but in its depths there seemed to be
a flickering. Llew drew his breath in sharply, could this be
Sanguine? Fabled treasure of the Empire? He had heard rumours that
negotiations for trade of the precious substance had been
happening, hat a breakthrough had been wrought, but so far his
father had not talked much of it. He was entranced by its
beauty.
“
A pretty bunch
indeed, more than I had expected to find here. They are almost good
enough for the court of his most illustrious Emperor. Mmm, my
Prince? I might ask of their company later
tonight.
”

Llew looked
at him, unsure of how to react, did he
mean
…
to lay with? He felt
heat creeping up his face, but forced a polite expression.
“
I am hoping they shall stay the
winter here, I would like to be able to watch them
again.
”

The
Ambassador laughed, a rich slithering sound, putting his hand once
more upon Llew
’
s
shoulder.
“
Yes I did notice
how enthralled were you and your little friends were. I cannot
fault you, they have skills to charm any
man.
”

This time
Llew was almost sure he wasn
’
t just talking about their dancing, ambassador
Salvias
’
smile had a note of
something wicked in it. Is his how men would talk to one another?
This shifting innuendo? He was used to word games at court, it was
a popular past time, but he had never heard it used in such a way
beyond a few tentative teenage wonderings. He glanced over at the
other boys, they had moved away some to give him privacy. Gos was
watching him out of the corner of his eye, Llew supposed that they
were impressed by the fact that the Ambassador was treating him
like a man, like a friend, laughing at his jokes. He turned back to
the Ambassador, a smile upon his face.